CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 14--The Army launched a Redstone missile--the first stage of its forthcoming satellite-bearing space vehicle--at 8:25 p.m. tonight.

The largest and heaviest of the Army's ballistic weapons, the 69-foot-long, six-feet thick Redstone blasted off into a starry, almost cloudless sky and appeared to make a successful flight.

The Redstone will be used as the first stage of the Jupiter-C vehicle with which the Army plans to establish a small earth satellite in orbit.

A Boeing Bomarc ramjet guided missile, capable of flying three times the speed of sound, was also fired before noon.

Space Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14--The House agreed today to vote tomorrow on a $548,226,000 authorization bill for emergency space-age defenses.

It was reported that the Navy will be firing test models of its 1,500-mile Polaris missile by early 1960.

The Polaris has been described in some quarters as the best weapon in sight to counter the threat of Soviet intercontinental missiles.

Debt Limit Increase

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14--The administration asked today for a $5 billion increase in the national debt limit, to 280 billions.

First reaction in Congress pointed to approval, as a matter of regretful necessity in view of the ever-climbing costs of national defense.

The debt has already pressed to withni less than 750 million dollars of the presetn 275-billion limit.

Cuban Rebels Pillage

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 14--Fidel Castro's rebels swept down out of the mountains today and sealed off the bustling sugar shipping city of Manzanillo in a daylight rampage of pillage and plunder.

French Cabinet Crisis

PARIS, Jan. 14--An angry war veterans' lobby today plunged Premier Felix Gaillard's young government into a crisis within hours after a new session of Parliament convened. A vote of confidence will be taken in the National Assembly Thursday.